Gaming machine manufacturers continually seek ways to make their gaming machines more inviting to players. One way to make the game play experience more exciting is to present the player with a realistic and stimulating video and audio environment. For example, gaming machines have evolved from having small, low resolution CRT displays to multiple high-resolution video displays.
As another example, gaming machines have been developed which include complex sound systems. These sound systems may, for example, include multiple speakers which are designed to produce a surround-sound experience or the like. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 9,504,919 describes a gaming machine having multiple speakers, including the ability to change the position of the speakers to vary the perceived vertical and/or horizontal location of the emitted sound. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2004/0142748 describes a surround sound system for a gaming machine where the system may include, for example, speakers mounted on an associated player chair or the like.
However, there are various obstacles that make the implementation of such audio and video features difficult. One problem is that the gaming machines must generally have a small size or “footprint” so that they take up a minimal amount of space on the casino gaming floor (thus allowing the casino to have space for larger numbers or gaming machines and other features such as gaming tables). Thus, the manufacturer must fit a large number of components into a relatively small space, thus often making it difficult to include all of the desired components.
As one example, when gaming machines had small CRT displays, there was generally sufficient space within the housing to fit speakers near the CRT display. However, as the CRT displays were replaced with much larger LCD and similar displays, placement of the speakers became more difficult.
As another example, while U.S. Pat. No. 9,504,919 describes a system where multiple speakers may be located to either side of the video displays, this configuration is often unworkable in many newer gaming machines where there is little or no space between the sides of the video display and the adjacent sides of the gaming machine housing, or where the video display is mounted on a mount or the like and there is no housing within which the speakers may be mounted next to the display. Further, in configurations like U.S. Patent Application Publication 2004/0142748, it may be much more costly and complex to try and mount speakers apart from the gaming machine, such as on a player chair.
As yet another example, U.S. Patent Application Publication 2004/0038722 discloses a configuration in which glass advertising/name panels, known in the industry as the “belly glass” and the “top glass”, are used to generate sound. As noted in that application, such a configuration may be used to essentially create large speakers to overcome problems associated with using small conventional speakers where there are space constraints. However, this configuration has a number of drawbacks. First, the belly glass and top glass of gaming machines are typically printed with the name of the gaming machine and other artwork, and they may thus be changed or updated. Thus, adding sound-generating features to them makes the cost of updating or changing that glass unnecessarily expensive. Also, such belly and top glass panels are normally located at the bottom and the top of the gaming machine, such that any sound that emanates from them will sound to the player as if it is coming from a remote location.
A new configuration for a gaming machine which addresses these and other issues is desired.